Automation, sensing and robotics • Improving distance for 433 MHz receiver

I have built a device that connects a 433 MHz receiver to a RPi 0W. I am sniffing the 433 MHz transmissions from a Maverick Redi-Chek ET-732 BBQ Thermometer. Below is a photo of the device:



The Maverick thermometer comes with its own receiver and is able to successfully receive signals from the transmitter easily over 100 feet away. My Pi is acting as a custom receiver and the distance I am able to receive signals is a maximum of about 6 feet. I am also using a 17.3cm piece of wire as an antenna attached to the receiver.

Things I have tried to improve reception distance:

• Superhet receiver
• More expensive RF receiver
• Different antenna (1, 2, 3)
• Separating the components out onto a breadboard to give them more space
• Place the Pi under a metal cup and the receiver connected by cables outside the metal cup to remove RF interference

None of these changes made any significant improvements to distance. I think we can rule out the transmitter because the receiver that comes with it can successfully receive from far distances. Does anyone have any advice on how to improve distance? Or, has anyone using a Raspberry Pi successfully connected a 433 MHz receiver to their Raspberry Pi and achieved good reception distance, say over 50 feet?

Statistics: Posted by Produkt — Thu Feb 01, 2024 1:55 pm

---